Vaasa, or Vasa in Swedish, (Vasa in Latin), is a city on the west coast of Finland. It received its charter in 1606, during the reign of Charles IX of Sweden. It is named after the Royal House of Vasa. Today, Vaasa has a population of 57,266 (2005), and is part of the administrative province of Western Finland and the regional capital of Ostrobothnia.
The city is bilingual with 71.5% of the population speaking Finnish as their first language and 24.9% speaking Swedish. The city is an important centre for Finland-Swedish culture.